The Phantom of KH High School
by OperaGhost666
Summary: Organization XIII has opened a school, and Axel has been assigned to teach Musical Theatre. The issue? Only one kid actually cares about the class: Sora. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE (kind of). Let's find out how well Axel deals with the stress of teaching, especially since he has had NO experience with a Musical Theatre class before in his life!
1. First Day of School

Axel looked over the rows of students, blinking slowly. When Xemnas had told him they were opening a school, he hadn't told him that he'd actually have to _teach_ anything! Of course, how could Axel refuse? He was only number VIII, and in no position to argue with the Superior. So he took the least painful subject: _Musical Theatre_. That didn't sound _too_ bad. All he had to do was show a couple of musicals, movie musicals and other such things and rattle off a few pre-planned sentences; how hard could that be? Pretty hard, Axel thought, looking at all the blank faces he was going to have to start explaining _Annie_ to. He cleared his throat.

"Hello, class! My name is Axel Flurry. You can call me _Mr. Flurry_ or just simply _Axel_. If you can't remember either of those, you can call me _sir_ or _mister_. I hope all of you will call me something at some point."

A hand went up. It belonged to a spikey-haired brunette with blue eyes and funny clothes. The kid had a huge smile on his face. "Sir?"

"Yes?" Axel asked. "Your name, please?"

"Sora Danielsen, sir!" the boy, Sora, said enthusiastically.

"Norwegian?" Axel couldn't help but ask. Sora nodded. "Me too," Axel said. "But I ditched the surname when I joined the Organization."

Sora nodded, looking slightly stricken as he began rummaging through his cluttered backpack. Finally, he pulled out a big, yellow notebook and a pen and turned back to the front of the room. Axel cleared his throat and started again.

"Today, we'll be learning about the musical—any votes, kids?"

Again, Sora's hand shot up. Axel nodded in his direction.

"Can we watch _Phantom of the Opera_, sir?"

"Yes, and we can read the book too! You read my mind!" He hauled a big box onto his desk and began tossing the books to the students. Some of them, like Sora caught them and began reading the information on the back. Others, like a silver haired boy, simply let them slide across the desk and sit there, untouched. Axel decided he was going to pick on the silver haired boy until he actually contributed to class on his own free will.

"Thank you, sir!" was the half-hearted chorus from the class. Axel opened up his copy and looked at his notes in the front.

"Can anyone tell me when this was written?" He looked pointedly at the silver haired kid. "You there in the back?"

The kid groaned and pulled out a blue and red iPhone. He punched in some letters and hit _search_. "1986?"

Axel shook his head, laughing a little. "No, that was the _musical_. Your name?"

"Riku. Riku Yukimura."

Axel nodded, writing it down on a little slip of blue paper. "Thanks, Riku! You'll be joining me for the inaugural detention this afternoon. Three thirty to five, thank you. Don't be late!"

Riku accepted the detention slip with a smile. "No problem, sir."

Axel frowned and shook his head. He didn't like the idea of having to give out a detention on his first day of teaching, but if Riku wanted to be difficult, he would.

"Riku," he warned. "Open your book."

The silver-haired boy grimaced and opened it lazily. Axel winced as he noticed the way Riku paged through. That was no way to treat a book! How could he _do_ that? Sadly, he turned away and dragged a little TV into the middle of the room

"Anyone want to watch the movie?" Axel asked. Everyone except for Sora raised their hands. The brunette looked crushed. Axel smiled, knowing that that frown would be wiped off his face as soon as he heard the words, "Well too bad."

In the chorus of groans, Axel was pleased to see Sora's beaming face. The young man looked like he might pass out from relief. Axel personally agreed with the kid. When Xemnas had forced him to watch the movie, he'd almost thrown the TV across the room. He'd _hated_ the way those actors seemed to think that blank faces were the height of human emotion.

Sora raised his hand. "Thanks, sir!"

"Anytime, kiddo!" Axel grinned. "Glad to help my fellow music-lover!"

"Can we watch the one with Ra—"

"Absolutely. That's the one we're watching, kid!"

Sora beamed, clapping his hands like a toddler. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but was stopped by a girl with auburn hair. Axel scanned the attendance list, looking at all the pictures, and found her. _Kairi Jones_.

"Kairi…" he said tiredly. "Let Sora speak."

"Fine!" she giggled. Sora looked at her and took her hand momentarily. It was clear that they'd been friends for a long while. Axel smiled. He'd never had that kind of friend before. Of course, he had Roxas, the cute, blond dance teacher. And he had Demyx, the ditzy music teacher. Then again, Demyx wasn't much company. He was just, well, Demyx. However, he was really the one who had taught Axel about musical theatre.

"So… can we… can we… um… umm… ummmmm…" Sora struggled for words. "Can we do scenes and songs from it, please?" The _please_ was drawn out and whining. Axel nodded.

"Sure, kid. You're a piece of work, aren't you?" Axel asked teasingly. Sora blushed and nodded.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be!" Axel assured him. "It's nice to have someone with a little _enthusiasm_." He added a pointed stare at the rest of the class as he said the last words. They shifted uncomfortably under the green glare and a few of them actually raised their hands. Axel called on a girl with brown hair and shining, green eyes. He could tell right off the bat that she had been listening to every word he said, and had even taken down some notes!

"Mr. Flurry?" she started. "What if one of us doesn't feel comfortable singing or acting? Not that _I_ don't, but just to check in."

"Well then they don't have to," Axel said after a moment's pause. "Of course, I would encourage it, as it _will_ be for a grade."

"Oh," said the girl, whispering sympathy to the boy next to her. "Sorry, Pence."

Pence shrugged. "S'okay."

"Clearly it's not," said the girl, raising her hand. "What if acting brings on anxiety, sir?"

Axel shrugged. "Then I've gotta see a doctor's note. What's your name?"

"Olette."

"Are you anxious about acting?"

"No, but Pence is."

"Well, give me a parents' note, and you'll be fine. You'll just have to write me a few paragraphs about the scene, okay?"

Pence nodded and Sora's hand shot back into the air. This time, Axel didn't bother telling Kairi off when she wrestled it back down. It had been a long morning, and he still had three hours to go. Unfortunately, the High School they'd started had major classes that lasted for up to five hours! Axel also knew that most of these kids had thought that Musical Theatre Studies would be an easy A, and didn't really care about the plays. To be fair, Axel hadn't cared much either until Demyx gave him the whole "Theatre is Great!" speech.

Sora and Kairi were off in their own little world. Kairi tried to catch his attention, and he just sat staring at Riku, his eyes gleaming sympathetically. Riku glanced over every so often, sometimes throwing in a wink or a raised eyebrow, but he didn't seem _too_ interested.

"Alright, my lovely students!" Axel tried to get their attention. "We're going to start the _movie_ now!"

Dead silence, all eyes riveted on his face or the screen. _Great_, he thought. _This is going to be one of those _teacher-hating_, movie-loving classes. Why didn't I teach math when it was offered to me?_

**Hi! This is my very first story, so I promise I won't bug you with many more of these Author's Notes. I just wanted to say that I'm really excited to share my writing and I hope you all like it! If you have any character suggestions or things that I could do to make my writing even BETTER, I'd love to hear it! **

**Thanks!**

**OperaGhost666**


	2. Since When Was School a Bad Thing?

The rest of the class passed by in a blur of music and snoring. Riku fell asleep as soon as the movie started and one girl covered her eyes every time there was a change in lighting or scenery. Axel guessed that she wasn't used to the idea that musicals could be kind of creepy. Sora hardly blinked and Kairi kept trying to grab his hand. The brunette responded with a shocked look and by edging his hand away slowly but surely.

As Axel tried to gauge the reactions of the class, he began to wonder how the other teachers were getting along. No doubt Roxas was having fun. He _loved_ dance! He had been teaching ballet and jazz dance since he was eighteen. They were now twenty-four and twenty-five. Axel, of course, was the older one. Demyx was probably _loving_ his job as music teacher. Xemnas was the Principal, so no doubt he'd be meeting Riku in the near future! Saïx taught P.E class. Luxord taught Literature and his girlfriend Larxene taught Math. Xion was the student teacher in Marluxia's History class and Vexen taught Science. Xaldin was the head of the kitchen and Xigbar was busy being Vice Principal. Axel wasn't quite sure whether or not Zexion was teaching. He thought he'd heard that he was teaching Visual Arts and Lexaeus was teaching some form of self-defense. Axel, of course, was going to be the director for the school plays from here on out. _Great_.

In the moments following the bell, the classroom was empty. Axel sank into his desk chair with a sigh. The door creaked and he heard soft, graceful footsteps. Moments later, he heard Roxas's voice.

"How was your first class?" asked the blond. Axel groaned.

"None of these kids even give a shit about Theatre. They all just want to pass notes and pass out on their desks. One kid even pulled out his phone to look something up."

"Riku Yukimura?" Roxas guessed. "He's in my dance class third period. I've heard he's a piece of work."

"Oh, come on, Roxas! You're beaming! How was _your_ first class?"

Roxas gave a tired laugh and sat down across from Axel. "Not bad, not bad," he admitted. There was this one girl who was really into it! I think her name was Yuffie or something."

"Oh yeah?" Axel tried not to sound so tired. "What was she good at?"

"Jazz dance," Roxas answered without missing a beat. "Which is great because everyone else was into ballet and party dancing."

"Party dancing?" Axel laughed sourly. "That's a thing?"

"You bet it is!" said the blond. "Damn annoying too! They just hop around and put their fists above their heads."

In spite of the misery of his first class, Axel let himself go and gave a real, honest smile. Roxas didn't miss it. He leaned down and whispered.

"Good luck next period, honey. I've got to run." And with that, he exited the classroom and returned to the dance studio down the hall. Axel blinked, realizing for the first time that Roxas was wearing the ring Axel had bought him for Christmas. The thought made him smile, but the sound of the bell wiped the smile off his face as soon as it had appeared.

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

As soon as the day was over, Axel sat at his desk and buried his face in his hands. Why was teaching so _difficult_? He thought he'd just have to show up and throw a bunch of papers at kids and they'd read them! There was nothing in the instructions manual about actually having to answer any questions or actually having to read anything _out loud_. Instead, the students all wanted to be read to and all had a million questions that boiled down to "Why can't we use this class as nap time?" At the end of the day, it made Axel feel terrible.

"Hey," Demyx called from the doorway in that nasal whine of his. Axel turned, hoping that somehow he was just hearing things. He wasn't. The mulleted blond was leaning against the doorframe, grinning like it was his birthday. "How was class?"

Axel gasped. "You just gave me this class so _you_ could teach music!"

Demyx laughed in what Axel assumed was meant to be an evil fashion. "You bet I did! A couple of years ago I taught a theatre class… to get my degree in teaching. It was pretty rough. The kids didn't give a sh—darn."

_Of course_, Axel thought. _What a jerk._ But he didn't really mean it. He knew that Demyx was a bit childish, and he knew that he probably wouldn't have done much better. Maybe it would get better anyways. Maybe the kids would start appreciating the material. Probably not. He already had the first round of in-class essays from his third period class and they weren't looking too good. He'd heard from Xion that Marluxia's History class wasn't much better. At lunch, Larxene had done nothing but complain about how she needed to get an Assistant Teacher and was thinking of hiring Naminé. Naminé reminded her that she was busy teaching Art. Luxord's class had gone smoothly. Everyone seemed to like Literature class. Naturally, the first story had only been a few paragraphs long. Xemnas had caught a couple of kids kissing by the lockers and Vexen had nearly exploded the Lab.

"You know what?" Axel said, desperate to get out into the fresh air. "I've got to run. I'll finish grading these at home… See ya!"

_One day down_, he mused as he wandered through the door of his apartment building. _How many left to go?_

**A/N: To anyone who is actually reading this! **

**I'm thinking of switching Points of View. What do you think? So far, I'm not too happy with this story… **

**What couples/relationships would you like to see? AkuRoku? SoRiku? Sora/Kairi?**

**I hope you like it! All reviews are welcome (even bad ones! Those help me learn!). **

**Signed**

**OperaGhost666 **


	3. Shipwrecked Family

Through his foggy, half-asleep mind, Roxas heard the door to the apartment open and close. Then he heard Axel's heavy footsteps and sharp breaths. Was the elevator broken again? He looked up over the arm of the couch, hoping to catch a glimpse of his roommate. Had he been back with his parents, they would have called him a _flatmate_. But he wasn't with them anymore. He hadn't lived in England since he was fifteen. Axel was the closest thing he had to England, and he was Norwegian! He had moved from Norway when he was fourteen, losing most of his accent to the accent of New York City.

"Roxas?" Axel called. "Roxas, you home?"

Roxas sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. "Yeah," he yawned. "On the couch!" He looked up and blinked slowly. Axel looked beyond tired. His spikey hair was disheveled and his jacket was hastily hung on its hook. The thick black eyeliner around his eyes was smudged, like he'd been rubbing them too much. The tattoos under his eyes seemed to jump out from his pale skin. He stumbled over to his favorite red chair and sat down with a sigh. Neither of them said anything for a while, sitting in calm silence, waiting for the other to speak.

"You look tired," Roxas pointed out awkwardly. Axel nodded.

"I am. You okay, Roxie? It's not like you to just pass out on the couch like that!"

"Yeah…" Roxas said. "Did you hear that they're trying to get Marly to teach French?"

Axel shook his head contemplatively. "Makes sense!" he mused after a pause. "Marluxia _is_ French. Why not teach it?"

"He'd rather teach History," Roxas answered. "But the kids find his accent kind of tough to follow."

Tough to follow? Where had that come from? Marluxia's accent may have been kind of thick, but it wasn't hard to follow. Roxas had been able to understand him since he'd met him… or rather since he'd been _adopted_ by him when his dads disappeared in a shipwreck.

"Penny for your thoughts," Axel teased. Roxas looked up with a startled gasp.

"Oh, nothing," he lied. He preferred not to talk about his parents' deaths, even if it _was_ Axel.

Axel didn't buy it. "Come on, Roxie!" he said. "I _know_ there's something going on in that pretty little brain of yours! How about we trade? A thought for a thought."

Roxas nodded reluctantly. "Sure. You start."

"Hmmmmm," Axel pretended to think. "I guess I was just thinking about how beautiful you look right now."

"Stop it!" Roxas giggled. "I was just thinking about my parents." He sighed. So did Axel.

For the record, Roxas noticed the way that Axel looked at him. Like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. Sometimes, he looked like a wounded animal. His green eyes stared out from his thin face. He didn't talk about it much, but Roxas understood that neither of them had had very good lives until they joined the Organization. Roxas had had a little brother at some point, but he'd supposedly died with his parents. Now his face seemed to appear in the halls of the school. Everywhere he turned he'd hear "_Sora got an A in History_" or "_Sora is doing wonderfully in French_." The second day of school hadn't even begun and Sora was already top of his classes. All Roxas could do was stand back and watch. He hadn't been old enough to look after Sora when their parents had died, and Sora had only been five. He didn't expect his brother to remember him either.

"It gets better, you know," Axel murmured. "My parents died in a fire when I was eighteen. That was two years before I met you. I spent those following two years in the worst depression you could ever imagine. Worse, even. I wished I'd died in the fire… and then I saw some friendly-looking blond guy and my life changed."

In his heart, Roxas knew what Axel meant and what he was trying to say. But he had to push that aside and think about the rest of the year. He had his first semester class planned out, but he had no_ idea_ what he was going to do in second semester! He knew also that Axel was stressed too.

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "I guess what I should be saying here is 'thank you.'"

The taller, red-haired man shook his head. "Nah, Roxie. What you've got to be doing is getting to bed! You've got classes to teach—"

"And you've got papers to grade," Roxas guessed. "On the first day?"

"I didn't know what else to do!" Axel admitted. "The first class was a disaster."

Roxas stood up and stretched, yawning sleepily. _Bed time_, he thought as he wandered into his room. _Axel will probably be up until midnight. _


	4. One Week Later

"Mr. Roxas!" Sora shouted, sticking his hand in the air. "Can I go to the bathroom? I really have to pee!"

Roxas sighed and nodded. For the first few words he'd shared with his brother in nine years, it wasn't really a great start. He watched as Sora ran from the dance studio, not even bothering to put his shoes back on. Then he resumed the class. There were a few excellent dancers, namely Sora, Aerith and Riku. The only problem was that Riku really didn't care about dance. He had been taking ballet for years with only one apparent thought in mind: "_When I get to college, I am dropping this class_."

Before the classes started, Roxas had taken each student aside and asked them about their dance training and had them dance for him a little bit. Riku and Sora had done the placement test together, putting together a duet in less that five minutes.

"I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Sora yelled as he ran back to his place. "Can we choreograph something now?"

"Sure!" Roxas said. "But first we've got to finish warming up!"

The class groaned, most of them stayed seated on the floor. "Come on, get up!" Roxas motioned for them to stand. They did and he began to count the beats for them as they danced. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!" As usual, Sora was right on the beat, only pausing to make sure he didn't get hit by Kairi's somewhat off-tempo enthusiasm. Riku managed to keep up with the bead despite his evident lack of interest or enthusiasm. His movements were robotic and carefully planned.

"Okay, class! You can take a two minute water break and then I want you back here for your first project! Remember, you've been in school for a week, and I want to see you acting like it!"

The kids scrambled over each other in their rush to get to the door. Sora stayed behind, shuffling his feet nervously. "Mr. Roxas?" he asked. Roxas tilted his head curiously and took a couple of steps towards Sora.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"Nothing much," Sora bluffed. "I just wanted to show you some new stuff I came up with…"

"Sure, kiddo!" Roxas laughed. "Anytime." He grabbed his phone and plugged it into the speakers. "What song?"

Sora jumped. "Huh? Oh, yeah, song… Ummmm… _"Masquerade_," please!"

Roxas stifled another laugh, masking it as a cough. He could feel his cheeks heating up like they always did when he thought something was funny. "You sure like _Phantom_, huh, kiddo?"

Sora blushed and gave a tiny nod. "Yeah… I found the CD when I was unpacking all my old boxes a couple of years ago… It was my dads'. They left it to me when they… um… passed away. I wasn't old enough to remember it much. I just… It reminds me of them… I found this picture inside."

The brunette reached into his pocket and pulled out a black and white photograph. Sure enough, Roxas recognized the smiling faces of his—their—parents. He recognized his own smiling, ten year-old face and the pudgy face of a six month-old Sora. Sora smiled sadly and pointed to the different people.

"That's my dad," he murmured. "And there's Papa… and there's my older brother…" His finger hovered over Roxas's picture for a moment. "I don't know what happened to him. No one told me I even _had_ a brother until I found this picture, and they didn't ever tell me his name. I don't think they know it either." He stuffed the picture back into his pocket and Roxas hit play. Sora's choreography was good, albeit somewhat amateur. A few of his rolls were clumsy and he lost count of some of his turns. Roxas chuckled softly. Sora danced like he did when he was fourteen. Of course, he hadn't had the same passion for dancing as Sora did. He'd even begged his fathers to let him quit. It wasn't until they died that he started to see dancing as an escape, something to love and enjoy. Sora did. He seemed to love the music and the floor under his feet. Roxas wiped away a tear, turning off the music when Sora stopped.

"That was great, kiddo!" he said proudly. "Just remember to tuck in your knees on some of those rolls, and you'll be fine. And never forget to keep counting! And spotting, too!"

Sora grinned. "Thanks, Mr. Roxas!" he cried. "I hope I'll be as good as you are when I'm twenty-four."

"If you practice, there's no saying you won't be better by the time you're eighteen!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, kid! You dance just like I did when I was your age. Except you have a passion for it. I didn't until—" He stopped himself. "Until my dance teacher gave me a good talking to."

The bell rang. Sora giggled. "I guess the rest of 'em took more than two minutes for their water break."

"They sure did," Roxas agreed. "When you see them next, tell your idiot classmates that they've all got an assessment tomorrow. Tell them to each choreograph a short dance to their favorite song. What class do you have next?"

"History!" Sora said. "With Luxord! I hear that Zexion took over Literature and Marluxia started teaching French!"

"Did they?" Roxas asked. "Well, you'd better get to class! Luxord _hates_ lateness!"

"Okay!" Sora raced out of the classroom, leaving Roxas alone and sad. His brother didn't remember him. He had that old picture and he still didn't recognize him!

_Maybe he will_, he assured himself. But in his heart, he knew that Sora would need to be told sooner or later. Otherwise it would be as though he never had a brother at all.

**Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them! **


	5. Maybe It's Just Easier

Sora didn't know what it was about the dance teacher he found so familiar. He guessed that it was the generic dancer look to him. He had the same slender frame and wide, innocent eyes. Sora had them too. Sometimes it freaked him out how much he looked like the dance teacher. Even the other kids started noticing.

"Hey, Sora!" Kairi said after only about two weeks of dance classes. "You look a hell of a lot like the dance teacher. Do you know that?"

Sora just nodded, unwilling to acknowledge that he _had_ noticed that fact. It was almost _creepy_ how much the dance teacher looked like him… or how much he looked like _Roxas_. Instinctively, he reached into his pocket and curled his fingers around the photograph. He pulled it out and looked at it sadly. In the middle was the smiling face of his big brother. He was blond (or so it seemed) and he had what could have been blue eyes. But the photo was black and white and it had been folded multiple times. And besides, his brother was dead. There was no possible way he could be alive.

A hand waved in front of his face. It was Kairi's. She looked at him worriedly, shoving her face close to his. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned.

"You're distant," she observed. "If I'd known you'd get all upset, I wouldn't have pointed it out. Is this about your family?"

Not wanting to look weak or stupid, Sora shook his head. He didn't like to talk about his family anyways. It was too painful.

"Don't you have a class to be going to?" he asked, the words coming out harsher than he meant them to. Kairi stepped back.

"Well I— Yes, I do, but— Sora, that was rude!"

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking at his yellow shoes. He'd never realized how big his feet were, or how interesting the floor was. A sharp pain indicated that Kairi must have pinched him, but he didn't look up. "Ow!"

Kairi gave a little huff of exasperation. "Sora, are you just going to stand there? I think I deserve an apology."

Sora shifted his feet uncomfortably. Then he paused. "Are my feet big, Kairi?" he asked. She sighed.

"No, Sora. Your shoes are too big. Who'd you get those from anyways?"

"My dad." He crossed his arms in a way that his parents would call _closing off from the world_. Kairi nodded.

"I'd better get to Chemistry," she said. "Vexen'll kill me."

Without another word—and before Sora could stop her—she had disappeared down the hall. Briefly, Sora wondered what he could have done to make Kairi upset with him. It was something Riku liked to call "the Friendzone," which Sora had never heard of in his life! Riku explained it as somewhat of a prison. He said that Kairi _liked_ Sora and that Sora was completely blind to it. Sora replied with a few choice words that he didn't care to repeat again.

And now it was because of Kairi that he was late to Literature (which was now taught by some short guy named Zexion Lexicon) Mr. Lexicon fixed him with a pointed glare and pointed to the one empty seat in the class. Sora sat sheepishly next to Hayner, who snickered and gave him a sharp jab in the ribs.

"Ouch!" he hissed under his breath. "Watch it, stupid!"

Needless to say, the class was painful and drawn out. When the bell rang, Sora (for once) was glad to get out of the classroom.

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

It wasn't like Sora didn't care. School was just an escape for him. He could drown himself in the work and maybe the pain would go away. He was struggling to hold on to what little value his life seemed to hold. Still, he managed to smile through the agony of his mind and keep up the appearance of being just fine. When anyone asked him how he was or how his weekend was, he would lie and say, "Great!" The truth was, he never felt all right unless he was on his feet, singing and dancing, or in his favorite class: Mr. Axel's Musical Theatre class. He _loved_ the way the teacher was really invested in the class and the way in which he _always_ got a good answer from Riku when no other teacher could.

Speaking of Riku; he was another one of Sora's escapes. He let Sora spill his mind and didn't pass judgment. He would listen and nod, offering little bits of advice here and there without being overbearing. He was one of the only people—aside from his parents and maybe Kairi—who had seen Sora cry. It wasn't pretty. When Sora cried, he sounded like he was dying, like he couldn't breathe. It was terrible. That's why Sora preferred to smile and stay "cheerful." That's why when people called him "naïve" and "ditzy," he let them. _Maybe_ it was just easier that way.


	6. Can't I Care?

For some reason, Riku didn't care about school. He tried to pay attention, but he just kept falling asleep. Or he'd get lost in a thought only to "wake up" and realize that the teacher was asking him a question he couldn't possibly know the answer to. He found himself swimming in a vast sea of math homework and musicals that he couldn't comprehend, and he was starting to get a bit panicked. He'd seen his report cards from his old school. They hadn't been good. It was all the same story. The teachers all wrote that he had poor work ethics and low self-esteem. The principal had called him a "rebel," and the guidance counselor described him often as "a troubled child."

At the new high school, the only teacher who actually seemed to like him was Larxene, the math teacher. Her students affectionately dubbed her "the Mistress of Misery." Despite all this, she was actually quite nice. She had a sharp personality and Riku liked that. He found it easier to pay attention when the teacher was every bit as rebellious as himself. Sometimes Larxene even stood on the desks or played rock music in the background as she taught. She was intriguing and engaging. So was Axel. While the Musical Theatre teacher didn't stand on the tables, he did bring certain energy to the class that was different from Vexen's nervousness and Marluxia's idea that he had to baby _all_ of his students. The guy even brought _chocolates_ to class!

During the second week of school, Riku found himself staring involuntarily at Sora during Axel's class. He didn't mean to, but something kept drawing him to the brunette. Maybe it was the soft curve of his nose and mouth in profile against the bright window. Or maybe it was the way the corners of his mouth kept twitching down as though he were fighting back tears. Whatever it was, it was becoming increasingly harder for Riku to pay attention to the class. He was worried about his friend. For the first time in a long time, he actually wanted to _help_ someone.

As the people on the little TV screen gathered at a table and began to sing and dance, Riku forced himself to focus. The lyrics, much to his amusement, were rather… inappropriate for school. Suddenly, Riku heard Sora gasp and saw him clap his hands over his mouth, smiling.

"Hey, Aerith!" Riku whispered, leaning over to the girl next to him. "What's this musical called?"

Aerith chuckled softly and whispered back. "_RENT_. And don't think I'm saving your ass _ever_ again."

"Who are these people?" he asked, still struggling to understand. He watched Aerith scribble some words on a piece of ripped paper and hand it to him. He took it and glanced over it a few times. It was a debriefing of all the characters. "Thanks!"

"Never. Again," Aerith muttered. And with that, she turned her body to face the screen and ignored Riku's faint protests.

Riku snorted and turned back to watch Sora. He was smiling again, his eyes wide and innocent. Occasionally, he would laugh or a frown would touch his lips. At some point, Riku even saw a single tear drip from the corner of his eye. The brunette wiped it away quickly. He looked fleetingly at Riku, panicked. Riku realized that Sora knew Riku had seen the tear. He looked away but it was already too late. Whatever damage was done was done.

After class, Sora was doing his best to avoid Riku and Riku wanted to know why.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, blocking Sora's way down the hall. The smaller boy jumped and tried to duck under Riku's arm. Riku grabbed his shoulder.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Sora stammered. "I-I'm not doing anything!"

Riku grimaced. "You've been looking like I killed your grandma all day."

"You k-killed my grandma?" Sora was obviously trying to change the subject. Riku shook his head.

"No," he growled. "But you've been acting like it." He backed Sora against the wall and lowered his face to Sora's eye level. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, a strong hand landed on Riku's shoulder. He looked up, startled. It was the P.E teacher, Saïx. He looked livid.

"If you boys want to talk this out, you can do it in Xemnas's office," he said. "Otherwise, I say you take your little romance elsewhere?"

"Romance?" Riku gasped. "Sir, there is no romance here!"

He turned back to see that Sora was gone. When he realized where he was going, he had already disappeared. _God, _Riku thought. _Can I ever do _anything_ right?_ He blushed and started on the walk to the cafeteria. Was Sora okay? He hadn't meant to frighten him. He was just worried was all! _Why do I always mess everything up? Can't I be nice for a change? Can't I _care_?_


	7. Family

Somewhere around the third week of school, much to Axel's surprise, Riku started to do his homework. Axel had noticed a sort of change in the boy's demeanor. It started with a fight in the hall with Sora. Suddenly, Riku seemed to actually care about the work and other people for a change. He sat next to Sora in class every day, and he sometimes even carried Kairi's books. Axel wondered if it was something to do with Sora.

When he brought this up later with Roxas, his partner seemed somewhat unwilling to discuss it. He waved it away as merely a headache and resumed reading his thick novel. Axel yanked the book from his hands.

"If you've got a headache, Roxas, then you shouldn't be reading!" he teased, laughing as Roxas tried to grab back the book. The blond looked particularly irate. Finally, Axel placed a kiss on the cover of the book and handed it back. Roxas scowled.

"I don't have a headache _anymore_," he spat. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"Is it something to do with your family?" Axel guessed. It was a lucky guess because Roxas shook his head adamantly, exposing the blatant lies about to follow.

"No," he ground out through his teeth. "I just don't want to talk about it."

Axel leaned his face right next to his roomate's. "You sure?" he teased. Roxas shoved him off and sat triumphantly on Axel's chest. Axel could feel the breath being crushed from his lungs.

"Roxas!" he wheezed. "Get off!"

With a devilish grin, he rolled Roxas off of his chest and onto the floor. The blond just lay there, his blue eyes wide and laughing. Axel thought that he was probably looking at the most beautiful angel from Heaven in that moment… and he didn't even _believe_ in Heaven. He believed that when you were dead, you were really dead.

"Sorry," Roxas giggled, jumping to his feet. His hair was tousled and he was blushing furiously. "You're just so funny."

Axel smiled. His partner would do _anything_ to change the subject. It had always been like that. Ever since he'd met Roxas, there had always been a constant need for shifting conversations. They'd never really spoken about family or their past.

"Are you okay?" asked the blond, poking Axel in the stomach. Axel coughed and then smiled.

"Yeah, sure!" he said. "Just don't sit on me anymore. I don't think my lungs can handle it. Remember, I don't have much fat to protect me."

Roxas grinned softly. It was plain on his face that he wasn't telling Axel everything… or anything. For some reason, that hurt. Axel wanted to know what Roxas had in that pretty little brain of his. Of course, he'd probably kill Axel for calling him "pretty."

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Axel asked. Roxas shook his head.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess so. It's just… Sora… he's…"

"Got something to do with your family?" Axel guessed. Roxas nodded.

"He's… I think he's…"

"Come on, Roxas. I'm not judging you. You know I'm not. No idea is stupid."

"Sora's my brother," Roxas said, his body deflating in one, enormous sigh. He looked horrible, Axel thought, in a way he hadn't looked since they'd first met. Of course then Roxas had been alone for some time and Axel had only just joined the Organization.

"I… know…" Axel admitted haltingly. "The resemblance is striking, you know. It wouldn't take a genius like Vexen to figure it out."

Roxas laughed shakily. "Speaking of Vexen," he said, "We've got a dinner invite for tomorrow night. D'you want to go?"

"Ughhhh!" Axel groaned. "And listen to Marluxia's foreign ramblings? You know they did it on purpose, don't you! They _know_ I don't speak French!"

"And I speak very little!" said Roxas. "I'm a Dance major, remember?"

"You should have taken French," Axel muttered. He _hated_ the dinners with Vexen and Marluxia. It might have been better if Zexion wasn't their son and if Larxene didn't hang out there so much! And Vexen and Marluxia _never_ got along! Since when were they _married_? And why the heck was Zexion such a brat about Literature! Axel personally didn't _care_ about the difference between William Shatner and William Shakespeare! "And you're avoiding the issue!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "What issue, Axel?"

"The issue of Sora!"Axel cried. "Have you forgotten already?"

"No," Roxas sighed. "He's a good kid. I'm glad I've met him… My little brother… Wow." Then he paused. "I have to tell him! He doesn't even think he _has_ a brother! He thinks his brother is _dead_!"

"Whoa there!" Axel said. "Let's get back to talking about that dinner at Marluxia's place! Do I _have_ to go?"

That got a laugh. It seemed like Axel was right to change the subject. They could think about Sora for _years_. All that mattered was that Roxas had a brother! And that Axel was being forced to go to dinner with Marluxia and Vexen. Now _that_ was painful.

"You have to go," Roxas confirmed. "I already promised. And Vexen _promised_ that Zexion would shut up for at least _ten_ minutes. Marly promised that he wouldn't say "mon dieu!" all the time and Larxene won't be there."

Suddenly, Axel felt his heart lift. "Oh, really? That's just _too bad_. What's keeping her from terrorizing us?"

"Tutoring. You know that girl… Kairi?" Axel nodded. "Well she's flunking math, and Larxene doesn't seem to hate her, so yeah."

"You know, Roxie!" Axel teased. "That dinner doesn't sound so bad all of a sudden!"

_Hey_, he thought. _At least _I'm_ not stuck tutoring some kid!_


End file.
